If you could do it all again...

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I would have got married in time to DCF in London

[LaL 418]

To those who said they might've chosen the CR-1 route instead of the K-1...may I ask why?

We have not yet decided which route to pursue :/ and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I would have definately considered CR1. Being that it took over a year to get a stupid K1 then having to do AOS, I feel like we will never be finished.

[maya62 7]

I don't think we would have done anything differently, except maybe file for AOS/EAD/AP sooner after our wedding. We've both been pleased with how the K-1 process has worked in general.

I will say, for those who are bringing in a child or children on a K-2: every minute that I spent preparing for the arrival of my stepson (talking to his school, lining up other kids for him to meet and possibly make friends with, researching extra-curricular activities that are available and other ideas for trips, reading about the experiences of other immigrant kids and kids in general, etc...) has paid off in spades. So far, his transition has been amazingly smooth (knock on wood). Some experienced moms may do all this instinctively, but I felt like I really needed to be prepared for instant step-motherhood, and I am so glad I took the time... not just for his sake, but for the sake of our new marriage and my husband's transition as well.

Maya

[ladybird216 2]

Looking back, we wouldn't have done anything differently.

Saying that though, while we were going through Nebraska with the I-129F...which took an amazing 200 days...we were sooooo frustrated and didn't have a good thought about the USCIS!

But from NVC to the London Embassy it was amazingly fast and no problems whatsoever, and the same goes for our AOS etc.

I am just so pleased that I didn't adjust from the VWP (the thought did cross our minds at one point) but I really don't think I could have stood the stress of not knowing if I was going to be sent back to the UK...that would have been very unsettling for us.

We think we did the right thing anyway

Jen

[Rosie420 2]

We aren't done with the process yet, by any means, but things have been moving along smoothly for us. *knock on wood* Being apart has been really crappy, but it's made our relationship stronger.

I guess if I could change anything, I would have gotten my divorce filed sooner, though money and the cooperation of the ex were issues out of my control. Danny got his visa on 23 January, and he's flying over in March, so he's got plenty of time to get stuff sorted before he moves. I'm glad that we gave ourselves LOTS of time as far as the wedding date. We filed the I-129F in July and planned for a June wedding, giving it nearly a year for processing.

I'm just really happy that we'll be able to start our new life together soon! 43 days!

[Satisfaction 1]

There may be things I would have opted to do or not to do, in my life in general, but not regarding this issue. I wouldn't change a thing.

My phylosophy is that things happens for a reason, good or bad. Whatever happens, happens. There is always something to learn. Fate exists. I may seems strange or even naive for many people, especially people who don't know our background very well. We believe in fate and we believe in prophecies. Not many people, I suppose, see things the way we do.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Anything people would have brought over - or not brought over?

[Satisfaction 1]

I brought almost nothing. I can't think of anything I could have brought from there... There is nothing much in Guyana that I could use here anyway!! I always want to bring fruit from home, but it is illegal to bring any in the U.S.

For the story, one time, I brought these dead Morphos (it's a big blue butterfly which is quite famous in Guyana). A present of my father to his friend (such a good idea, isn't it? ). My Dad catched a few and put them in a glass. Anyhow. Imagine the face of the officer opening my handbag at the customs, and asking me what I was doing, carrying these dead butterflies in these glasses??! Lucky me, I wasn't carrying dead green leaves from the canopy too

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This will put me in the minority on this thread, but I would have done nothing differently.

Damn, the Agent and I agree an aweful lot lately. Ditto.

[lucyrich 20]

If we had known in advance the extent and direction of the timeline changes that were going to happen after we submitted our paperwork, we probably would have done the K-1 instead of the CR-1 and attempted K-3. But there was no way to know that in advance. The CR-1 ended up keeping us apart a little longer than a K-1 would have, but it was the best option given the facts that were available to us at the time, and we don't regret it at all. It's been very simple after arriving in the US, and it felt nice to be married while we were playing the waiting game.

Knowing what we know now, we wouldn't have gotten a lawyer. But knowing only what we knew at the start of the process, the lawyer did give us some helpful info and a feeling of security and confidence. I don't regret that decision, either.

I think maybe we would have brought a tostiarepas (a cooking appliance for making the Venezuelan national food). We'll probably try and bring one back on our next trip.

[aussiewench 9]

This will put me in the minority on this thread, but I would have done nothing differently.

Damn, the Agent and I agree an aweful lot lately. Ditto.

I'm with this bunch too.

In the past we have both said, wish had done this and that....but in hindsight the way things are moving, we wouldnt change a thing. We have been lucky and our process has moved quickly even with us seemingly procrastinating with the stage we are at right now. We have our reasons. All going well I hope to have my CR-1 visa April/May. Thats 6/7 months in total from first mailing in petition. Not procrastinating the past month would probably have been a month earlier, but no complaints. Everything has its time. It has given us time to do other things we needed to do as well. We are glad now that we are doing the CR-1 so as not having to worry about all the hassle doing AOS in US. As much as we miss each other, we haven't rushed in doing things. Sometimes I've gotten frustrated even though I understand why we are procrastinating hahahaha lucky for me hubby has reasoning power and more patience. I'm more impulsive which is not always a good thing. Hmmmmmmmm procrastination

[Marilyn. 340]

The one thing I wish we could do differently was not hire a lawyer... he was a total waste of money and had no idea what he was doing and cost us a couple of RFE's

I found this site too late, we had already hired the lawyer

[Cassie 8]

The only thing I would have done differently was to not move to the US during the time of year that I did. Between American Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the birth of our niece in January, it was a rough time of year (sentimental reasons) to up and move away from family. To deal with the emotions of all of that was hard, and I think it may have been a bit easier if I had moved in the summer or something like that.

[ceriserose 1]

The only thing we would have done differently was not hire the lawyer that did nothing (not even file one document despite our haranguing him weekly) that cost us 6 months. Fortunately he refunded our $$ in full and we reported him to the BBB in his state.

On the flip side, we hit NSC and made it through in 47 days, so if we'd filed in summer 2004 we'd probably have been waiting that out at NSC anyway since wait times were longer then.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

To those who said they might've chosen the CR-1 route instead of the K-1...may I ask why?

We have not yet decided which route to pursue :/ and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

There was a point in time, when I was starting the AOS process and trying to get all her documents done with DMV and SSA, that I thought I would have rather done CR1 and not K1. But not any more. It took a little effort, but what doesn't?

Not to hijack this thread...but I'm assuming you do the cr1, you don't need AP, AOS, or EAD because it encompasses them all...but it's a longer wait time to get your honey here?

you got it!

but you still have to deal with the DMV and SSA.